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Woman faked story about abandoned baby in Long Beach, police say

The story of how a woman found an abandoned newborn girl at a Long Beach gas station was faked, police said Tuesday.

A woman initially told authorities at about 7:30 p.m. Monday that she had found a newborn girl at a gas station in Long Beach, police spokeswoman Lisa Massacani said.

KTLA-TV, which interviewed the woman, Sonia Hernandez, quoted her as saying she found the baby in a blanket inside plastic bags next to a concrete block wall at the gas station. She brought the baby to her apartment two blocks away, she said, and authorities were called to pick up the girl, the TV station reported.

But by about 10:30 p.m., Long Beach police had determined that the original story was false, Massacani said.

In fact, the baby may never have been at the gas station. Massacani said police eventually found the newborn's mother, whose name was not released. Police suspect the mother delivered the baby girl only hours earlier in a home and then gave her to Hernandez, who called 911 to report an abandoned infant.

It was not immediately clear if Long Beach police will arrest anyone. The newborn was said to be doing well at Saint Mary's Medical Center in Long Beach, KTLA reported.